Introduction
What, how and why?
PhD life – a double-edged sword
Goal definition and scouting of target university & PhD supervisor
Short-listing universities
Picking a PhD supervisor
Discovering your superpowers: The first semester
Planning your entire PhD journey
Narrowing-down the scope of your thesis and underlying papers
Productivity hacks: leveraging agile development principles
Mastering your literature review – read, read, read
Identifying target journals
Choosing the right research design
Equipping yourself with a methodological toolkit
Choosing a software for the statistical analysis
Shaping your superpowers: Second semester
Finding co-authors
Learning academic writing
Presenting your research
Applying your superpowers: Year 2 to 3
Attending and networking at conferences
Research visit abroad
Soliciting friendly reviews
Understanding the journal review process
Acing revisions and letters to the reviewers
Earning your superhero legacy: Year 4+
Using fixed freeze and submission dates to finish on time
Connecting your papers to a cohesive PhD thesis
Preparing your PhD defense
Mastering the job application process
Conclusion
Additional materials provided on top of the guide
PhD planner template (.xlsx)
Sample academic conference presentation (.pptx)
Sample PhD defense presentation (.pdf)
Sample PhD interim proposal (.pdf)
Sample journal review letter (.pdf)
Sample response letter to journal reviewers (.pdf)
Sample PhD thesis (.pdf)
40+ links to deep dive sources (urls)
The guide itself has 71 pages and ca. 22.000 words (.pdf)
